The
History of the Danube Swabians
By
Hans Kopp
hans_kopp@hotmail.com
from
the book “The Last Generation Forgotten and Left to Die” The
History of the Danube Swabians”.
All
Rights reserved. ISBN No. 0-9701109-0-1
Chapter
1
The
Settlement of the Germans in
Hungary
Who are the Danube Swabians
? |
The
Danube Swabians are those German colonists,
who settled during the three “Great
Swabian Migrations” in Hungary (see map before WW I). The colonization
was done by explicit invitation of the Hungarian Landlords, during the reign of
the Habsburgs as Kings of Hungary and Emperors of the “Holy Roman Empire of
German Nation”; to repopulate the land after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire
by a contingency of German-Austrian allied forces (1683-1718). They became first
known as the “Ungarländische
Deutschen” (German-Hungarians). After the dismantling of the
Austrian-Hungarian Empire at the end of WW I by the allied Nations, the regions
the Germans had settled in Hungary were divided among three nations, Hungary,
Romania and the newly created Yugoslavia, thus making the collective name “Ungarländische
Deutschen” for the Germans no longer valid.
The name “Danube Swabians” was coined in 1920 Robert Sieger
(Geographer from Graz) and by Dr. Hermann Rüdiger (Scientist from Stuttgart)
and defined by the German Foreign Department in 1930, during the Weimar
Republic, acknowledging the German origin of the Danube Swabians. The Germans
realized that, left unassisted and divided among Romanians, Yugoslavs and
Hungarians, the Danube Swabians would not be able to resist assimilation
attempts and as an ethnic group would disappear and with them a culture and
values worth preserving. This collective name would identify and better describe
the Germans, whose ancestors settled in Hungary during the three “Great
Swabian Migrations”.
The name derived from the German province of Swabia (Schwaben), and the
Danube (Duna/Donau) River. The name Danube derived from the Celtic word Danubius
their name for the Danube. However, the name was not personally used by the “Danube Swabians”, the youngest of the German “Volksgruppen“
(folks groups), until after
their expulsion by the Communist Governments of their respective countries. The
Danube Swabians are also referred to as “Donau-Deutsche”
meaning Danube Germans.
|
A
Brief Pre-History of the Land and its People
|
To
understand the Danube Swabians history,
their cultural background and the land they settled, one must go back in time.
One must take a closer look at the historical development of the land they
settled, the condition they found the land in at that time, and the many
difficulties they had to overcome to survive all the adversities they had to
face.
Early
history saw Germanic tribes moving from their locations of the North Sea and the
Baltic Sea to the south where they were competing for the fertile land of the
Hungarian low land with Celtic, Illyrian, Slavic and Thracian tribes. Germanic
tribes like the Teutonic (Teutonen) and Cimbri (Kimbern) people among others had
been known to settle the regions of present day Hungary, decades before the
birth of Christ. The legions of Julius Cesar, 29-9 BC conquered the regions of
Illyricum and Pannonian extending into the Hungarian lowland laying west and
south along the south bend of the Danube, where they established the provinces
of Pannonia and Illyricum. The word Pannonia would become a household name for
the Danube Swabians as name of the regions their ancestors settled in Hungary
during Empire of German Nation, although it did never included all the regions
they settled. Pannonia included the regions of today’s Hungarian provinces of
Kis (Little) Alföld, which are the regions along the Raba (Raab) River
extending to the Danube River in the north. It included Dunantúl centered south
of Lake Balaton and the Baranja, while Illyricum included the regions
Slavonia-Syrmia with the rivers Drava and Save and extending from there to the
south. The Romans also built several cities on the Danube, which were Vindobona,
becoming Vienna (Wien), Aquincum becoming Budapest (Ofenpest) and Singidunum
becoming Belgrad (Griechisch Weißenburg). They also built Sirmium (Sremska
Mitrovica or Mitrowitz) near the Save River. The latter became the site of many
historic events, such as an outpost for the Romans and a stronghold for the
Turks. In 1944 the city became the site of one of the notorious death camps in
Yugoslavia, for its citizens of German descent during the post war years of
World War II.
In
172-179 the Roman Emperor Mark Aurel surrendered the Province of Pannonia to the
Germanic tribes of the Marcomanni (Markomanen) and Sueben (Suaven, Quadi). This
returned the German tribes to the region of Pannonia. The gothic tribes of the
Visigoths (Westgoten) and the Ostrogoths (Ostgoten) triggered the
“First Germanic Tribe Migration”. These tribes migrated from their
original homeland near the Wistaw (Weichsel) River, today’s Poland, to the
Black Sea. This migration also brought the Vandals (Vandalen) and the Gepids (Gepiden)
into the region (See “The Anchor Atlas of World History” by Hermann Kinder
and Werner Hilgemann”). The movement of the Huns to the west triggered the “Second
Germanic Tribe Migration”, and as a result pushed the Germanic tribes
to the west, which brought the Ostrogoths into regions near lake Balaton. The
area near Lake Balaton became the birthplace of the gothic script (350 AD). It
was the gothic Bishop Wulfila (Ulfilas also known as Wölflein), who translated
the bible from Greek (follower of Arius) into the gothic language. In order for
him to accomplish this, he had to develop a new script, the “gothic
script”.
One
year after the death of Attila, the King of the Huns, 453 AD, a Germanic tribal
alliance defeated the Huns. The alliance under the leadership Arderic (Arderich),
King of the Gepids, led the Gepids, Ostrogoths and Rugier to a victory in the
battle on the Leitha River, (also known as Nedao or Ledao) in present day
Austria. After this battle the Gepids returned to the regions of Sathmar,
Transylvania also known as Siebenbürgen, the Banat and the Batschka, while the
Ostrogoths established themselves in Pannonia, Illyricum and the regions to the
west. The Lombards (Langobarden) had established their kingdom to the north of
the Gepids and Ostrogoths of what are today’s central Hungary (Budapest) and
the Slovakia. During the 4th and 5th Century the early
Germanic states had their largest expansion including most of Western Europe of
today.
The
Gepids managed to live there until their defeat by the Lombards 567 AD. Many of
the Gepids integrated into the Lombards tribe and moved on with them to northern
Italy, others were known to have lived in the regions of their former kingdom in
smaller groups for many years after their defeat, until they were totally
absorbed by other cultures. These areas are located in today’s southeastern
Hungary, northwestern Romania and northern Serbia. By the end of the 6th
Century Bavarian monks and settlers were found as far west as the Raab River and
by the 8th Century German settlements could be found in the regions
of Pecs (Fünfkirchen) southeast of Lake Balaton.
The
presence of the Germanic tribes mentioned above can be found in archeological
finds as well as names of towns and provinces. During the 3rd Century
the Ostrogoths found the Slavic tribe of the Spali and may have its origin from
the word Spali (meaning sleeper) translated into the Gothic word Slavane with
the same meaning. The province Slavonia has its origin from the Sueben who
called their settlement regions Suavonia. While the Slavic word “Niemci” may
have its origin from a Slavic word for the Gothic people (meaning the silent)
and was later used for all Germans. The three towns of Sartscha, Setschan and
Sakula are believed to be of Gepiden origin, who where also known as Cupi and
Gipi by other nations.
Interesting
to note is the word “Deutsch” was first
mentioned in a Latin script in 768 as “Theodiscus
lingua”. The origin of the name Deutsch “theudisk” comes from the
subject “thiot” meaning Volk (people) and when adding the adjective
“isc” the meaning is changed to “Citizen of a culture” (Zum Volk gehörig).
Several forms were in use. The general Frankish form “theudisk” and the
altered form “theudiscus” and “diutisc”. The latter was lesser known.
The word “Teutonic” (first only meaning “gallisch”) originating from the
Germanic tribe of the Teutons and would later become the same meaning as “diutisc”.
The word German may have its origin from “Ger” meaning spear in
the old Germanic language and “Mann”
meaning man. It also could come
from the Romans who called them Barbarians or “loud” during their fights
against them or screaming in battle. The word “Bajuwar” which is a
collective name for German tribes living in the regions south of the Danube in
today’s Bavaria could have its origin from the Romans.
The
Seventh Century saw the Avars, an Asiatic tribe reinforced by remnants of the
Huns, entering the region. They settled the regions east of the river Tisza (Theiß)
and from there they conquered the Slavs informer province of Pannonian and the
regions as far to the west as the eastern parts of today’s Austria. The
historical presence of the Slavs in the region became verifiable in the
Carolingian period of 805 by Karl dem Großen, King of the Franks (Franken),
better known as, “Charlemagne” although knowing to have lived in those
regions during the time of the Celtic or even the Illyrians. The Slavic clans,
among them the Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Bosnians and Slavenoi may have had
settled the regions of the Balkan and Pannonia during several time periods.
Although it is known that the Slavic clans had no written language, we know that
the Celtics and later the Romans took them into slavery, hence the word slaves.
The clans to the north included the Slovaks, Czechs, White Croats and the Poles.
In 791-796, the Frankish Empire under their King Charlemagne defeated the Avars
and several Slavic tribes and incorporated them into his Kingdom. On Christmas
day in 800, Pope Leo III, crowned Charlemagne in Rome Emperor of the “Holy
Roman Empire of German Nation”, thus a new era that would last 1,000 years,
begins. (The title Caesar in German Kaiser is equivalent to Emperor and is the
highest worldly title that can be bestowed upon a person).
In
the eastern part of the Empire, Charlemagne established several provinces called
mark (march-meaning border or marker in the Old Germanic language now being
given a new meaning, province). Among them are: the Carolingian March also known
as the Avars or Pannonian March. The Styrian March (Steiermark), Carinthian
March (Carentana, today’s Kärnten), Carniola March (Krain) and the Bavarian
Eastern March (Bayrische Ostmark, becoming Ostarrichi and later Österreich)
forming the foundation for today’s Austria, while the Bavarian western mark is
today’s Bavaria. The Franks also entered the regions of Slavonia-Syrmia (Slawonien-Syrmien)
and established several German settlements there, which existed through the 13th
Century. Charlemagne was also interested in stabilizing the region. To
accomplish this he summoned missionaries from the Church State of Salzburg and
brought Christianity and schools to the newly established Ostmark. Karl der Große
was the first Emperor to establish a school system among the German Nations.
The
continuously intruding Magyars (Hungarians) gained more and more dominance in
the region. Toward the end of the 10th Century, their expansion
reached to the west as far as Augsburg, Germany. The Magyars were defeated on
August the 10th 955 by a united German army under King Otto I near
Friedberg, to the north of Augsburg and retreated to Hungary again. As leader of
the German Nations during the war, Otto I is given the title Emperor afterwards
by his army. During the reign of
Geisa (970-997) the Magyars became permanent settlers in Hungary. In 996, after
their King Waiks (Vajk) married Gisela, the sister of the Bavarian Duke, He was
baptized as Stephan (Patron name of Pasau) in Aachen, Germany. In 1001 Pope
Sylvester II crowned him as Stephan I of Hungary, marking the beginning of
Christianity in the Hungarian Kingdom. Geisa and Stefan are descendants of Arpad,
conqueror of the land of the Magyars. During 11th Century, Germans
that became known as the Zips settled in the Tatra mountain regions. It is also
interesting to note that the administration of the Diocese of Passau reached
east as far as far as the Raab River in Hungary prior to the existence of
Austria.
In
1141-1162, after the continued raids by nomadic tribes from the east, the
Hungarian King Geyza II prompted to hire German mercenary soldiers from Saxony.
He settled them with their families along with Saxon farmers from the west of
the Rhine in particular from the Mosel River Valley, areas around Aachen and
Luxemburg. Some of these Germans settled in the Mountains of Transylvania the
so-called Nösnerland. They settled in the regions of the Bistritz (Bistrita)
and Sajo river valleys. Others settled between the Rivers Maros and Alt, the
regions of the Kokel River, and into the Zibin, Harbach and Alt valleys with its
center of Hermannstadt (Sibiu), named after their leader Hermann. These settlers
became known as the Transylvanian Saxons. They recorded coming upon people with
German dialects while traveling through Hungary. These regions are believed to
be the area of today’s Sathmar. The Saxon settlements withstood several
difficult times during their 800-year History, including the invasion of the
Cumans, an Asiatic tribe occupying part of the area at the time of their
settlement and the Turks during the expansion of the Ottoman Empire, until their
expulsion by the communist regime of Romania in 1944.
The
Hungarian King Bela IV, also crowned King of Croatia, began to settle Germans in
his Kingdom after the Tartar wars in 1244. The settlements included the regions
of Slavonia-Syrmia. Notable towns settled were Vukovar and Osijek (Esseg).
By
1243 small troops of Turks from Asia began to migrate into Asia-Minor. Their
leader Osman established their first stronghold in Asia-Minor between the times
of 1281-1326. His successor Urchan was the first to assume the title of Sultan
of the Ottoman Empire. Part of the strength of the Ottoman Empire came from
their famous Boys
Harvest. During their raids the Turks gathered young boys by force or
through tribute that had to be paid to them by their subjects. These young men
were isolated and educated in Islamic ways and trained to become the fierce
fighting troops of the Turks, who became famous as the “Janizaries”.
In
1330 Count Otto von Ortenburg settled Germans in the Carniola March (Krain) a
region located on the southern tip of present day Slovenia near the Kulpa River
and the Croatian border. This settlement became known as “Die Herrschaft Gottschee” (Settlement of the Gottscheer).
The descendants of these Germans, predominantly from the regions of Austria
survived many adversities during their existence in Slovenia. The people of
Gottschee had to survive the destruction of their communities by the Turks
numerous times, dating back to the year 1469 lasting through 1598 and perhaps
even longer. During their raids the Turks burned down the towns of Gottschee a
recorded seven times. In the year 1471 the Turks took 40,000 people into slavery
and 20,000 more in 1475. During the same year the Turks burned 200 settlements
or towns to the ground. In 1815 under Napoleon, the citizens of Gottschee became
subjects of France and were burdened with exuberant war contributions. The
people of Gottschee had yet to face another hardship before their expulsion.
They were resettled by a decree of segregation in 1941 into the Ranner Triangle
during the German occupation the region. This brought additional hardships upon
them. Finally the people of Gottschee had to leave their homes in 1944-45 in
flight of the Russians troops and the Yugoslavian Communist Partisans.
The
Turks, under the leadership of Murad I, defeated the Serbs on June 28 1389 near
Kosovo Polje in the Balkan. The Serbs presented the strongest resistance in the
region at that time. By 1459-1479 the Turks controlled the regions of today’s
Romania. Following their victorious battle at Mohács on August 29 1526 under
the leadership of Sultan Süleyman II, during which the Hungarian King Ludwig II
(Louis II) lost his life, the Ottoman Empire now controlled the Danube regions
and with it Hungary. The Turks establish their capital in Paschalik, near Buda
and presented a serious and continued threat for the Christian civilization,
especially for Austria and Poland. Since the Hungarian King Ludwig II had no
heirs, the noblemen awarded the “Hungarian Crown” to his brother in law
Ferdinand, Emperor of the “Empire of German Nation”. The population in the
path of the Turkish troops fled west into what is today’s Austria to avoid
being murdered or taken into slavery. Many Hungarians fled with their noblemen
north across the Danube of what was left of Hungary and where they established
their new capital at Pressburg (Bratislava). Many of them succumbed to the
ravaging pestilence at the time. The majority of the populations fleeing to the
west were Balkan Slavic people, who found sanctuary and protection from the army
of the “Empire of German Nation”. The Empire had now become the protector of
Christianity and the last defense against the Turks. The fleeing population from
the east settled in the border regions of today’s Austria where they became a
viable support of the army in the struggle for their own survival and freedom.
The survivors left on the Hungarian plains, dug below ground burrows as housing,
which they had to relocate frequently to be safe from the Turks. Other
nationalities groups, among them the Transylvanian Saxons had to pay tribute to
the Turks.
Saving
the Christian Civilization became the major concern and priority of several
Western Civilizations. However, it was foremost the persuasion of Pope Innocent
XII (1691-1700) and the persistence of Emperor Leopold I (1658-1705), that
brought the powers together to successfully defend Christianity and defeat the
Ottoman Empire. Following these efforts the Emperor Leopold I and King Jan
Sobieski III of Poland, came to an agreement to send military aid of 30,000
troops in support of each other, should either Vienna or Krakow be attacked by
the Turks. Other Christian Nations of the “Empire of German Nation” pledging
military aid where Baden, Bavaria, Franken, Lorraine, Saxony, Swabia, and
Venice.
It
was in 1683 that Sultan Mehmed IV recognized, what he thought was an opportunity
to conquer the Christian civilization. At the time French troops had invaded the
German regions of Lorraine and Alsace to the west of the Rhine and had taken
Strasbourg in 1681, thus weakening the Emperors forces in the east.
Sultan
Mehmed IV concentrated his armies near Belgrade and Osijek. On March 31st
he began to move his forces of nearly 200,000 troops of multi nationality and
racial character, to the cities of Györ (Raab) and Komarom (Komorn) and sent
the following declaration of war to Emperor Leopold I.
Graced
with the in heaven reigning God, we Mehmet, glorious and almighty Caesar of
Babylon and Judea, from orient to occident. King of all earthly and heavenly
kings, King of Arabia and Mauritania, born and glory crowned King of Jerusalem,
master and ruler of the grave of the crucified God of the infidel. YOU, Caesar
of Rome (meant is the Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation), and
YOU King of Poland, OUR holy word we pledge. May it be known also to all of your
followers, that we are about to overrun your little country and bring with us 13
Kings and 1,300,000 troops, on foot and on horseback. We will destroy your
little country with our Army of which neither you nor your subjects had
knowledge of and stamp out all of them with our hoofs and deliver them to the
flames and swords without act of grace or merci. Above all WE order you, to wait
for us in your city residence, so WE can behead you; you little kingdom of
Poland do the same. We will exterminate you and all of your followers, as you
are the lowest creatures of God, as all unbelievers are, and erase you from the
face of the earth. WE will expose the big and little to gruesome pains first and
than give them to a vicious death. Your little Empire, I will take from you and
its entire population I will sweep of the earth. WE will let you and the King of
Poland live long enough to witness and until you are convinced, that we have
done all what we have pledged. This is done in recognition of the 40th
Year of our live and in the 26th year of our almighty reign.
This
is the original contends of the war declaration of Mehmet IV. It is translated
from the original German translation. The mentioned number of 1,3000,000 Troops
is highly exaggerated, as it was usually the custom. In reality it was 400,000
troops of which 200,000 moved on to Vienna to make an attempt to conquer
Christianity.
On
May 3rd Sultan Mehmed IV commissioned Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa with
the high command of 150,000 Turkish troops and 300 cannons and marched on
Vienna. These forces united with Hungarian opposition troops under Tököly whom
Kara Mustafa had promised to make King of Vienna, if he joined him in his
battle. Horrible news brought by fleeing citizens preceded the Turkish troops.
One eyewitness reported; they poke the eyes out of the children and leave them
lying in pools of their blood. They stab the women in the breasts and pierce the
men ears so they would lose their hearing, tie them together and take them into
slavery.” One can imagine the fears and concerns among the citizens of Vienna.
Upon
his arrival at the outskirts of Vienna on July 16th 1683, Kara
Mustafa wasted no time. He took 10,000 men to ride around the city to inspect
their defense walls personally. During his inspection tour, his men discovered
several grain storages and livestock. When they returned they also brought 150
severed heads and 50 prisoners with them to please him and to receive bonuses
and favors. By July 17th Vienna was surrounded with Turks from all
sides. Deducting from these barbaric treatments of the civilian population in
Hungary and Austria by the Turkish troops, one can be certain that the first
German settlers were exposed to many of the same cruelties when the Turks raided
their settlements years later.
Rüdiger
von Starhemberg heroically defended the city of Vienna with 10,000 men. The
defensive walls around Vienna were extremely well built during previous
centuries. The Turkish troops could not come in range to attack with their
cannons, since the superior weapons of the defenders outdistanced them. They had
to dig trenches and tunnels to get underneath the city walls to lay explosives
and set them off to damage the walls. These efforts of the Turks caused the
defenders many problems and for the attackers extremely high casualties. It also
brought about many casualties among the slaves who were forced to dig the
trenches. The maze of tunnels constructed by the Turks, were often paneled with
wood and covered with blankets to protect against grenades and shrapnel. If it
would not have been for the many decaying bodies of humans and horses and the
human waist, they could have been considered quite comfortable. These
circumstances coupled with the lengthy siege demoralized the attackers and
caused great dissatisfaction among them. During their attacks they had often to
climb over decaying corpses, which made it very difficult to be effective. Twice
they succeeded in exploding portions of the walls creating openings in them for
their attacks, however without success. The Turks missed their greatest
opportunity to take Vienna, when they overlooked an unguarded gate left by the
defender when countering an attack on a damaged portion of a wall. They could
have easily marched inside and taken Vienna. Von Starhemberg also feared that
the Turks would tunnel underneath the city, which indeed they did. A baker’s
apprentice discovered a tunnel in progress early one morning, while baking
bread. He heard strange voices coming from underneath the bakery, where the
Turks were digging. This discovery proved to be vital for the defense of the
city. The valiant defensive struggle around Vienna lasted 62 days, until the
arrival of the allied “Entsatz” (rescue) troops.
For
those interested in statistics, the strength of the Armies as estimated by
Austrian historians was as follows: The total Christian forces had 75,000 troops
and 150 to 170 cannons. The Turks had 30,000 men in the trenches around Vienna
and 107,000 troops and 300 cannons to oppose the Christian armies. The Christian
forces included Duke Karl V of Lorraine (von Lothringen) with 8,000 men on foot,
12,000 men on horseback and 70 cannons. The Saxons under the command of Duke
Johann George III brought 7,000 men on foot, 2,000 on horseback and 1,400 men
with 16 cannons. The Bavarian Count Max Emanuel came with 7,500 men on foot,
3,000 on horseback and 26 cannons. The Franken and Swabian troops under Count
Georg Friedrich contributed 7,000 men on foot 2,500 on horseback and 28 cannons
and finally King Jan Sobieski III of Poland brought a force of 10,200 men on
foot, 14,000 on horseback and 28 cannons.
Duke
Karl V of Lorraine laid out the plans of attack, while the overall command was
given to Jan Sobieski III the King of Poland. He accepted the plans, which also
reserved him the rights to capture the tent and loot of the Grand Vizier Kara
Mustafa, as prior agreed. The attack was planned to create three wings and
approach the city from the northwest the “Vienna Woods” across Mount
Kahlenberg and Leopoldberg outside of Vienna, from where the Turks did not
expect any attacks and where the cavalry of the Turks would not be effective. At
six o’clock in the morning on September 12th 1683, three
“Wings” of the German/Austrian and Polish allied troops, began to move these
troops across Mount Kahlenberg. Karl V led the left wing with Ludwig Wilhelm of
Baden and the 19-year-old Prince Eugene of Savoy on his side. The center wing
was lead by Max Emanuel of Bavaria, Johann Georg of Saxony, and George Friedrich
of Waldeck. It was comprised of the Bavarian, Saxon, Franken and Swabian troops
while the right wing included the polish troops under Johann Sobieski III and
the Duke of Lauenburg. By two o’clock in the afternoon the Polish troops, who
had the more difficult approach, had reached their positions and the battle
commenced. The fierce battle was decided in less than two hours, according
Austrian historians. The night before, the Turks killed hundreds of prisoners
and slaves including women and children, that is everything in their site and
their outcries could be heard all night long over great distances. On their
flight through Lower Austria and Styria (Steiermark), the Turks took 6,000 men,
11,000 women, 14,000 girls and 50,000 children into slavery. Learning from these
shocking statistics one can easily understand what it must have been to get in
the way of the Turks.
Interesting
to note is that Kara Mustafa (1635-1683) was executed by the order of the Sultan
for his failures on Dec. 25th 1683 in Belgrade, by strangulation.
(The sources of the information on the battle of Vienna can be found in “Die
Chronik Österreichs” by Prof. Walter Kleindel and “Heimat Glocken”
Mitteilungsblatt der Heimatortsgemeinschaft Batschsentiwan, Heft 19, 20, 21, 22
and 23.)
Duke
Karl V went on to gain victories at Gran (near the South Bend of the Danube) in
1685 and Ofen (Buda) in 1686. This returned the Germans to the cities of Ofen
and Pest, which were settled under the Hungarian King Bela IV more than four
hundred years earlier. These cities were under Turkish occupation for more then
150 years. The towns of Ofen and Pest were given the city rights from Magdeburg
and South Germany respectively. Still today the “Schwabenberg” outside of Budapest, reminds us of the German
settlements that existed until the end of World War II.
It
was not until the combined Austrian and German forces of the “Empire of German
Nation”, under their leaders Karl V von Lothringen, Max Emanuel von Bayern and
Ludwig Wilhelm I von Baden, defeated the Turks at Harsany (Harschan) near Mohács
in 1686-1687, that the Islamic threat to the Christian Civilization came to a
halt. These victories followed by the victories of General Dünewald and Count
Leslie in the regions of Slavonia-Syrmia, secured the land west of the Danube.
Max Emanuel of Bavaria took Belgrade on September 5th 1688 and the
Imperial troops advanced deep into Serbia. During the Battle in Belgrad Rüdiger
von Starhemberg and the young Prince Eugene of Savoy were wounded, the latter
seriously. Unfortunately Max Emanuel of Bavaria was summoned to return to the
Palatinate where Ludwig IVX of France made advances, forcing the Imperial troops
to retreat. The battle of Slankamen in 1691 is labeled as the most decisive and
also the bloodiest were 34,000 allied troops faced 60,000 Turkish troops. The
losses of human life were great. The Turkish troops lost 20,000 men among them
Mustafa Köpreli and several Pashas. The losses of the forces of the “Empire
of German Nation”, although not as great, could no longer hold Belgrad. In
1697, prior to the battle of Zenta, Prince Eugene von Savoy was given the high
command of the allied imperial troops. Following the battle, a 25-year piece
treaty was signed in Karlowitz between the Republic of Venice, Emperor Leopold I
and the Turks on January 26 1699 at 11:45PM, a time the Turks had selected
because of the alignment of the stars. The peace treaty did not include the
eastern part of Syrmia and the Banat.
The
Turks left behind a devastated, barren, and scarcely populated countryside of
low swampland along the Danube River. A report from a local clerk of Budapest
gives us a good description of the conditions of the towns and urban areas,
during the reign of the Turks. In his report he writes… most
of the houses are without roofs or totally destroyed. The windows of the houses
left are boarded with bricks or straw. No churches are left standing, with the
exception of two or three Mosques. Dead animals and even dead human remains are
found in the streets. The countryside is devastated and overgrown with brush and
weeds. The areas near the banks of the rivers are filled with sediments of
debris and sand. There is nothing but jungle along the rivers. There is hardly a
soul living there.
The
year 1687 saw the Turks leaving the Batschka. During their retreat they
plundered and destroyed almost all the existing communities in the region and
took the inhabitants into slavery. During a site inspection in 1698 it was found
that no less than 153 sites of former communities were completely destroyed and
deserted. To put in perspective, statistics show that the total destruction of
the area by the Turks left only 2 to 3 persons per square Kilometers living in
the region at that time.
|
The
Settlement
|
First,
we must understand the origin of our ancestors.
This is indeed a very difficult task to locate all the origins of the colonists.
According to documents in the State archives (Staatsarchiv) in Vienna, many
settlers are listed as originating from “Germanien”
or “Germania” (Germany) or “aus
dem Reich” (from the Empire), meaning the “Empire of German
Nation”. The question however, is what was considered Germany or the Empire
then and by whom? Bavaria, The Palatinate, Saxony, Saarland, Lorraine (Lothringen)
Silesia as well as other German Bundesländer (provinces) are mentioned
individually many times. It appears to be quite clear that Germanien did not apply to all of Germany in the same way, since
it could mean any of the Bundesländer. It is however possible that Germany was
only applied to Southwest Germany in particular the former regions of “Vorderösterreich“
which included the regions of Baden-Württemberg (Oberschwaben and Breisgau),
but one is not sure.
Should
you want to study origin on your ancestors and their region is listed as aus dem Reich or Germanien,
you must search for additional sources of information, like marriage
registrations in the Church books of Ulm and other ports from which our
ancestors departed. To give you an example, Mathäus Öffler married Apollonia
Wagner in Ulm in 1778. Their origin is listed as coming from Vennigen, The
Palatinate. Many times it also gives the origins of the bridesmaids and best
men. Good sources are the books from the various Bundesländer, listing the
emigrants who departed usually in the German language. The Church records, if
available from your place of birth, or the place of birth of your parents or
grandparents are other good sources. It is important for you to obtain exact
information about the dates of birth, wedding dates, maiden names of the women,
as well as the dates of death of your ancestors. Another problem you will find,
although registration was done well, it only lists the head of household by
name, and the number of family members without their names. The registration
does list the origin of the head of the households most of the time, but the
registrars did rely on the information given to them at the time by the head of
the household. This information is very general at times rather than specific
Your first stop should be at the
“Haus der Donauschwaben” in Sindelfingen, Germany, where many
volumes of books may give you a better idea as to where and how to start looking
for your ancestors.
There
was no particular pattern that could let us believe that towns were settled as
close communities from certain towns in Germany, although there are a few
exceptions. However, it is known that small groups from the same communities
have settled in the same town, which usually gave such a town a particular
character.
It
was the Hungarian landlords who recognized the need to resettle the vast lying
rural areas of their land. The reasoning was quite clear there was no one to
plow and till the land. The Hungarian Kingdom, which existed only as a narrow
strip along the Austrian border and Moravia (today’s Slovakia) during the
occupation of the Turks and whose population was decimated by the Turkish
occupation, needed farmers. The landlords urged the Emperor, Leopold I, to allow
the settlement of German farmers and craftsmen to serve the farmers in Hungary.
Therefore it must be understood that the settlement of the Germans in Hungary
was not the result of an act of occupation by the “Empire of German Nation”,
but by explicit invitation of the Hungarian landlords, in a peaceful way giving
an extending hand to a neighbor in need. They also urged the Emperor to allow
certain privileges and rights to the farmers to make settling in Hungary easier
and attractive enough for them. Following these requests Cardinal Peter
Kollonitsch was commissioned to oversee the details of the colonization plans.
Upon his recommendations the first order to resettle the vast lands vacated by
the Turks was released by the “Empire of German Nation” in 1689 with the Impopulationspatent.
Despite this order it would take many years until the mass solicitation for
settlers in many German regions was underway. A contributing factor was also the
uprising of the Kuruzzen). In 1722-1723 at their congress in Pressburg, the
Hungarian landlords set their position and demands, which they had requested,
from the Emperor Karl VI, into law.
Why
did our forefathers leave their homes? History tells us that Germany was not
unified then, as we know it today. It consisted of many independent provinces
ruled by a variety of royal families under the “Empire of German Nation”,
over which the Emperor had very little power after the peace treaties of Münster
and Osnabrück in 1648. These circumstances created a multitude of political,
social and economic difficulties under which our ancestors had to exist. Germany
became the site of several wars, which left the land in turmoil and the people
poor and hungry, especially in the Palatinate (Rheinpfalz). One must also
understand that our ancestors were “Leibeigene”,
subjects of the nobles who were
the lords of the land. The farmers were “un-free”
or “half free” subjects. Was their “freedom” from the
landlords the most important promise made to our ancestors that motivated them
to leave their homes? They were often burdened with additional taxes, to be paid
in the form of crops and produce. They were also burdened with “Serfdom”
or “Frondienste”
one could call them “robot hours” which had to be performed without pay, which
in many cases were extremely high and unreasonable.
Scholars
do not believe that these circumstances are the real reason that motivated our
forefathers to leave their homes. They believe that it was the solicitors,
called “Emissaries”
and “Impopulation commissaries” that
made the difference. They promised free land, to build cities and homes, free
land to raise crops, produce and grow orchards, as well as, free pastures to
raise cattle, hogs and other hoofed animals. However, they were not told that
the land was completely destroyed and devastated. The swampland had to be
drained and lay dry. The thicket and brush had to be cleared, before one could
build homes or harvest any crops. They were also guarantied protection by the
army, the right to uphold their German language, traditions, heritage and
costumes. The promises, although many believed sincere at the time, could be
termed a myth. The German settler who came to Hungary had to fight for these
rights throughout their 250-275 year history in the land they settled.
The
first German colonists immediately followed the victories over the Turks. They
were summoned primarily from the so-called Habsburg Erblanden (Land inherited by
the Habsburg Crown). They came from Upper and Lower Austria, Bohemia (Böhmen),
Moravia (Mähren), Bavaria (Bayern), Styria (Steiermark), Carinthia (Kärnten)
and Silesia (Schlesien). The first came in 1686 and settled the regions of the
mountains near Budapest. This settlement followed settlements in Dunantúl (Schwäbische
Türkei) in 1687, in the regions of Slavonia (Slawonien) in 1690, Kis (Little)
Alföld (Schildgebirge) in 1691, Buchenwald (Bakony) 1702, Sathmar 1712,
Batschka 1715, Banat 1716 and in Syrmia and Croatia in 1718.
Count
Alexander Karolyi was among the first sending men to Württemberg in 1712 for
the purpose of solicitation. The German region of Swabia, extending from Ulm on
the Danube down to Lake Constance (Bodensee), was the region selected by Count
Alexander Karolyi for soliciting farmers to settle in his county (Komitat),
known as Sathmar. Sathmar was once a town settled by Germans dating back to the
11th Century, known then as Sothmar or Salzmarkt (Saltmarket). The
name could also be of Romanian origin stemming from the words Satu Mare, meaning
“Village Big”. The town played an important role during medieval times
because of its salt trade.
It
was no coincidence that Count Alexander Karolyi targeted the Swabians for
solicitation to become settlers in the region of Sathmar. The Swabians were
known to be industrious farmers and were of the preferred Catholic Faith. The
farm inheritance law at the time in Swabia prohibited a farm to be divided among
the descendants. The oldest son had the right to inherit the farm undivided.
This helped lure away the second born sons. Finally the war of 1701-1713 (Spanischer
Erbfolgekrieg) left the population of Württemberg (Oberschwaben) overburdened
with hardships and taxes.
More
than 14,000 Swabians began their journey down the Danube to Budapest, from where
they had to travel on horse drawn wagons over land to Karol, located in the
province of Sathmar. Count Karolyi had neglected to make adequate preparation
for the trip overland. Disaster struck as the settlers traveled across the
Hungarian Pusta (plains) during the hot summer months, a journey of four to six
weeks. There were not only shortages of transportation, but also shortages of
food and water. Starvation and dehydration decimated the settlers. The Germans
had used up all of their food rations and had exhausted their finances before
they could reach their destination. Many of them died on the way. The mortality
among the children was extremely high. Upon arrival they did not fare any
better. The food shortages and poor housing provided for them left their marks.
Nearly seventy percent fled Sathmar to return to their home, especially the men
with trades who could not find sufficient work opportunities and had to wander
from town to town and work for their keep till they reached their homes. As they
made their way back to Germany they became known as Wanderburschen (Wandering
men). In 1720 Count Karolyi made new efforts to settle his land. This time
better preparations were made for the German settlers to succeed.
All
the land the Germans would settle in Hungary was finally cleared by the Turks,
when in 1715-1718, the combined Imperial forces under the command of Prince
Eugene of Savoy, decisively defeated the three times outnumbering Turkish forces
at Petrovaradin (Peter-Wardein), near Novi-Sad (Neusatz) and at Timisoara (Temeschburg).
Following these victories a peace treaty was signed at Pozarevac (Passarowitz)
in 1718. New borders were established along the Save and Danube rivers (to the
north of the east flow) which included the Batschka, the Banat and the
Slavonia-Syrmia provinces, as well as the regions of the Transylvanian Saxons
and Gottschee. One of the clauses of the treaty became a pitfall. It stipulated
that a contingency of 4,000 Turkish cavalry troops should not be considered a
reason to go to war, thus opening the doors to raid the settlements established
along the boarders (thus we say death to the first). This prompted the Imperial
Army to extend the military border until it stretched from the Carpathian
Mountains to the Adriatic Sea. To protect the border, companies of 100 soldiers
and 50 cavalry men were formed, aided by watchtowers erected at certain
intervals and staffed with men to signal enemy sightings.
The
Emperor of German Nation and King of Hungary Karl VI (1711-1740) supported the
decision by the Hungarian landlords and invited men from his vast Empire to
become pioneers of the barren lands left by the Turks and settle with their
families there. This was done not only to resettle and cultivate the land and
regain the population lost during the Turkish occupation, but also to establish
military support for the Imperial Forces of German Nation stationed in Hungary
with food supplies, materials as well as personnel. The Emperor believed
strongly that the settlers should be a vital force in the defense of the land
they settled and therefore every man had to serve as an army reservist.
Printed
posters and leaflets were distributed in “The Palatinate” (Rheinpfalz), a
region relatively over-crowded. One of the more prominent Impopulation
Commissioners was Josef Anton Vogel of Worms, in the Palatinate around 1730. The
success of the publications was enormous, so that restriction had to be put in
place to limit the numbers of the colonists.
To
historians the migration of the Germans to Hungary during the three time periods
1723-1726, 1763-1773 and 1782-1787, became known as the Great
Swabian Migration. Ulm was the port where our forefathers boarded the
barges called Schwabenplätten, to take them to their new homeland. The barges
used for transportation were “Ulmer
Schachteln” and “Kehlheimer
Plätten”. The pioneers reached Ulm, as well as other ports along the
Danube, on foot or by horse drawn wagons. There they would layover till the
required documentations were completed. Since single men were not allowed to
become colonists they had to find a bride among the many young maidens and be
married before they could board the barges at Vienna again to travel down the
Danube to their destination. When the first colonists left the homes of their
ancestors in quest of a new and better life, they had to buy themselves free or
be declared free before they were allowed to leave. Primarily able individuals
with financial means of 200 gulden were sought after; this was a lot of money.
To give you a comparison of the value of the money at that time, we found that
the price of a horse was 18 gulden and one could purchase a house for 160
gulden. Some people simply deserted without permission or legal papers.
Expenses
for the trip to Vienna had to be born by the colonists themselves. At Vienna,
their first major stop on their journey down the Danube, registrations took
place and new passports were issued. Each family received 2 gulden per member
and free food supplies for the rest of their journey. At their arrival in
Budapest an additional gulden was paid to the colonists, and the destination of
their settlement entered into the passport. At their arrival in the settlement
center, another registration took place coupled with an examination. Then a
document was issued with their rights and obligations, as well as, the amount of
their monthly allowable provisions to be issued to them at their destination.
Every person over ten years of age received one Kreutzer, a prescribed portion
of flour, firewood, straw and other goods until the time they could provide for
themselves. In order to balance the population between men and women, active
recruiting was done among single women. The famous transports of single women
traveling down the Danube became known as “Frauenzüge” (Women’s Migration Transports).
The
voyage of our forefathers was by no means a joy ride on the Danube. Several
detailed letters of experiences from travelers immigrating to Russia exist.
Reference “Ostwanderung der Württemberger 1816-1822” by Karl Stumpp)
Deducting from these letters one can assume that our forefathers did not fare
any better. In a letter from Johann Christian Bidlingmeier we learn that there
were several stops along the river. They left Ulm on the 2nd of June
and reached Vienna on the 9th of June. On the 17th they
left Vienna and arrived in Budapest on the 19th of June and on the 26th
of June they reached Neusatz (Novi-Sad) and on the 1st of July
Palanka. In Vienna documentations were checked and then they were transferred on
different barges. One of the bigger problems was simply piloting and handling
the barges through the rapids and sandbanks. Piloting became especially
difficult on the waters past Budapest, since that portion of the Danube was
mostly unknown to the pilots the river in particular at Peterwardein near
Neusatz.
Vienna
was not the only stop where the passes were checked; they were checked all along
the river in Linz, in Budapest and other ports as well as at their destination.
Friedrich Schwarz writes in his letter, he left his home on June 26th
1817 with his wife and nine children and arrived in Ulm on the 29th.
On July the 3rd they left Ulm and were held up on the 4th
by rain in Ingolstadt. On the 7th they reached Passau and had to stop
because of rain. They reached Linz on the 11th and the passes were
checked for the third time. The bad weather continued but they were finally
greeted by clear skies as they reached Vienna on the 10th of July. On
July 15 they were loaded on a larger barge with 309 people. On the 18th
of July they were hit by a big storm and had great difficulty on the barge. On
the 27th of July they reached Neusatz. These letters report not only
on storms, pass checks, but also of the scenery, the abundance of food they
purchased along the way, and illnesses as well as death and burial stops. The
journey down the Danube was a one-way trip and barges were dismantled upon
arrival and used to build their first homes.
With
thousands of people leaving east and west to Americas, Russia, Poland, Hungary
and other eastern frontiers, the landlords of the German states did not
necessarily approve of. They closed off the Rhine River only to see the
emigrants leaving across France and board the ships at the ports there. On
February 9th 1770 the Hessian government released a warning to the
police to take a close look at the items that could be silver-plated. In their
statement they say that the emigrants in doing so take the fortune out of the
country. In a statement from December 11th 1784 it was pointed out
that the emissaries, who promise greener pastures in foreign countries to the
citizens of Hessia, should be retained.
The
Settlement Patent released during the reign of Empress Maria Theresia consisting of nine
points gives us a good understanding of the contracts under which the Germans
settled in Hungary. It contained the privileges of the settlers, as well as the
expectations by the government from them. The land the Germans settled was
appropriated to them at no cost and remained government property. This could be
considered as a never-ending lease contract as long as a farmer and his family
could work the land that was appropriated to them. A farmer had the right to all
of the crops he could raise and was taxed with a percentage of the amount he
harvested from the land. The land had to be passed on undivided to the heir,
usually the oldest son. During the first years when plow animals were scarce
only a few acres could be handled. As time passed and more plow animals and
manpower became available, more land was appropriated to the farmers. These
contracts were in force until 1848, at which time they could take possession of
the land and were free to purchase or sell land.
The
beginning was extremely difficult for all the colonists. Often promises were not
kept. In the province (Komitat) Békés, when additional tax burdens were placed
upon the settlers, 360 families who had settled there left. The farmers were
also required to work certain hours without compensation. The hours were often
increased in certain cases doubled, like in Buda (Ofen) in 1729. Was this not
the very same reason why our ancestors left their homes in Germany?
To
the south, in particular the Banat, the farmers promising beginning came to an
abrupt and dramatic end when a Romanian rebellion erupted. The unfortunate
Turkish war of 1737-1739, which ended the presence of the Imperial Army of
German Nation in Serbia, coupled with these developments left the German
colonies without the protection of the Imperial Army of German Nation along the
borders. It gave the Turks opportunities to invade the settlements. They raided
and burned many of the villages and killed the colonists. Those who survived the
attacks where stricken with the bubonic plague the Turks had brought with them
during their raids. The people that were not killed suffered a painful death
caused by the high fever of the plague.
The
second group of colonists came between 1763 and 1773 during the reign of Empress
Maria Theresia (1740-1780). Seventy five thousand men, women and children came
during this period to settle the Hungarian low land on both sides of the Danube.
Many of those colonists came from Southwest-Germany, Alsace and Lorraine (Elsass/Lothringen),
which also included today’s Saarland. The main reason was the war conflict
with France in 1766 during such time the German territories of Alsace and
Lorraine were lost to the French. The French installed the exiled Polish King
Stanislaus Leszcynski as governor, who, during his reign of 30 years, instituted
the French language as the legal language and imposed strenuous taxes on the
farmers, German people were forced to leave their homes because of this
development in their home country. Most of those Germans came from the Saargmünd,
Forbach and Saarburg regions also known as the “German
Lorraine” (Deutsch Lothringen).
To
give you an understanding of the cultural background of a community, let us look
at the statistics of Batschsentiwan located 7 Km to the east of Apatin. The town
was settled in 1763-1768 with 320 families. The origin of the families was as
follows; Lorraine 85, Bohemia 17, Baden-Württemberg 16, The Palatinate 14,
Bavaria 13, Silesia 11, Moravia 6, the Saarland 4, from Saxony, Westphalia and
Alsace 2, Hessen, Pommern, Franken and Tyrol one each. From Germany without any
known origin came 78 families, and from Austria without any known origin came 4
families. Thirty-two veterans from the Seven-Year War (1756-1763 in Silesia)
were also settled there with their families. From the Hungarian areas of the
Swabian Turkey and Pest came 10 families. Rounding out the number, were 20
families with no known origin.
During
this settlement period in 1762, Empress Maria Theresia ran into opposition from
the Hungarian administrators with her intention to settle Germans in the
Batschka. The Hungarians had settled 2,910 Hungarian, Slavic and German families
there earlier, claiming that there was no room left in the region for more
Germans. It became apparent that the Hungarian administrators feared that the
German presence in the region could become a national problem for them. Empress
Maria Theresia vetoed their decision however and agreed to give the Hungarian
opposition more right in the planning of the settlements by hiring the man of
their choice as administrator. As a result Baron Anton von Cothmann, of German
descent and member of the Hungarian parliament in Bratislava (Pressburg), was
hired to direct the settlements in the Batschka. He moved to Apatin; from where
he began to settle the Batschka. His knowledge, wisdom and understanding of the
land and its people earned him the trust and admiration of all nationalities
settled during that time in the Batschka. During this period 50,000 Slavic
people fleeing from Turkish oppression in Serbia were also settled in the
southern Hungarian regions mainly the Batschka and Banat (thus we say hardship
to the second settlers).
The
Empress Maria Theresia’s war against Friedrich II, King of Prussia, created
additional problems for the settlers. Most of the attention of Maria Theresia
was directed to that war during that time which resulted in removing troops from
the Danube regions, leaving the settlers in the Hungarian provinces without
notable protection. Corruption among government officials placed in office by
the Hungarians and profiteering flourished. Prices and taxes rose and brought
additional hardships and suffering to their difficult everyday life.
The
third major movement of colonists came during the times 1782-1787 during the
reign of Emperor Joseph II (1780-1790). He was also referred to as “The German”. Emperor Joseph II saw his major task in
reforming the “Government
of the Monarchy” in the spirit of more freedom for the people. Step by
step he proceeded with the realization of his far-reaching dreams. One of his
achievements was to ban the “Leibeigenschaft”,
so that our ancestors were no longer subjects of the nobles. They became “free
men”. He also announced free religion for every man in his multi
racial Empire. In 1784 he instituted “German”
as the official language for the administration and the military, replacing
Latin as the official language.
As
a result of the free religion, non-Catholic were now allowed to immigrate for
the first time. Because of the policy of the previous administrations, the
population of the Danube Swabians is comprised of 85% Catholics and only 15% of
Protestants and Reformed Christians with a small trace of other religions.
However, segregation in general was very important during those times. Serbians,
Croatians, Hungarians, Romanians and Germans were predominately settled in
separate villages or towns. The Catholics, Protestants and Reformed Christians
also were segregated and settled in separate villages.
Emperor
Joseph II also reduced the financial requirements from 200 to 100 gulden. Yet
many families that could not meet those financial requirements came on their own
and were left to fend for themselves. In 1886 three hundred thirty eight of them
starved to death in front of the gates in Ruma when help was denied them by the
city.
In
1782 a new settlement patent (Ansiedlungspatent) was released which guaranteed
the following: 1. Freedom of mind and religion for all citizens. 2. A house and
a garden for every family. 3. For the Farmers; fields, and meadows, farm
animals, field- and house tools. 4. For the skilled trades’ men; 50 gulden for
the purchase of tools. 5. For the colonist family; a guarantee that their oldest
son would not be required to serve in the military. 6. For each family; free
transportation, starting from Vienna to the location of their settlement, at
which time their travel expenses would be reimbursed and a guarantee that free
provisions of food would continue until the time the families were settled and
able to provide for themselves. 7. For the people that became ills during the
trip, to build hospitals and provide free medical services. The free service
would continue until the sick were completely recovered from their illnesses. 8.
Finally, a ten-year long tax
exemption was guaranteed.
Most
important was the construction of the colonist’s home. If the home was not
completed at the time of the arrival, the family was placed temporarily into
another home. In such cases, the family helped the construction workers with the building of
their new home. The colonist house was built in a “uniform colonial style”
(Kolonial Einheitsstil). The walls of the homes were constructed with soil that
was bound with straw and ramped, since there were shortages of wood and bricks.
Reed was used as roof material.
At
the time the family moved into their new home they received the following items:
one cow or 18 gulden, one mattress (Strohsack), one carpet, one shovel, one
pitchfork, one spinning wheel. The also received one flour sieve, six sacks, one
baking trough, one ax, one hoe, one bread board, one water bucket, one flour
bucket and one butter bucket. Farmers received in addition, four horses, a wagon
and bridle, a plow and other tools like sickles and saws. The skilled tradesmen
did not receive land but instead 50 gulden, as mentioned before, for the
purchase of their trade tools. In general,
the colonists of the later years had a great deal more help to succeed with
their new beginning than those that had preceded them (thus we say bread for the
third).
Germans
also settled in other parts of the World during that time period, like
Pennsylvania, USA in 1683, Galizien, Slovakia, Dobrogea, (Dobrudscha), Romania,
Bucovina, (Bukowina) Romania, Bessarabia (Bessarabien) Moldova, Poland and
Russia. Records show that 150,000 Germans immigrated, settled, pioneered and
built more than 1,000 towns and cities in the regions of Hungary, which became
known to us as “The
Land of the Danube Swabians”.
During
my research of our “Heimatbuch Batschsentiwan”, I came across entries made
in the tax books by the tax collectors of Batschsentiwan, from the early years
of the settlement. Many of the first pioneers were unable to fulfill their
obligation to the government. One of the entries read: Ludmilla Kornhammler, a
widow with five children. She fights her way through a life which has very
little to offer. A second entry read: Lorenz Kolb, despite his age he gives his
last effort to raise his six children. A third entry read: Margarete Gunt, an
old widow unable to work, a notation about Nikolaus Vandres stated: weakened by
old age, he leads a poor live with his six children. A notation about Andreas
Peck said: Because of continued illness and poverty he stands firmly providing
for his six minor children. The situation of the widow Maria Burghardt was
entered as; she lost everything by drinking. It
is not difficult to read between the lines of these entries made by the tax
collectors, to understand how difficult the life of our ancestors, who settled
the land of the Danube Swabians, must have been.
While
studying the genealogy of my German heritage and the Danube Swabian people, I
also came to realize how difficult the lives of my own ancestors actually were.
Men died young. Mathäus Öffler died at age 37 in 1779 only one year after his
marriage to Apollonia Wagner in Ulm. I am a descendant of their only child
Jakob. Apollonia remarried in 1780. She lost her second husband Matthias
Wohlsberger in 1789 at age 40. She married a third time in 1799, only to lose
her third husband Josef Kirchemayer at age 50 in 1801. Apollonia Wagner died on
March 11, 1822 at age 74.
The
most common cause of women who died young was childbirth. Maria Fischer, wife of
Karl Blechl, died after her 4th child, at age 33. Karl remarried and
had thirteen additional children. From the thirteen children, nine died before
the age of two. Other women died from being overburdened with childbearing like
Barbara Weissbrod. She was the first wife of Jakob Ergh and died after her 11th
child. Six of these children died before the age of one. One died at age six. I
am a descendent of their first-born child Johann Peter. The high mortality rate,
especially among the children, created a huge problem for the colonists. Adam
Tettmann fathered twenty-two children, ten children from his first wife
Katharina Herner and twelve from his second wife Katharina Fink. From the 22
children of Adam only nine lived to be married. I am an offspring of Franz, the
22nd his last child. On average it was not unusual for a family, to
lose between six to eight children out of ten to twelve. Many couples had no
surviving children at all.
What
our ancestors found in this new land was nothing but hard work, hardship and
famine. It demanded great personal sacrifices. The land they settled bore
indigenous diseases, and 75% of the first settlers succumbed to Swamp
Fever. Swamp fever was not the only disease our ancestors had to
overcome. There were at least seven known cholera epidemics between the years
1831 and 1893. Although some of the epidemics were less devastating then others,
however each of them left visible scars on the population.
Flooding
continuously endangered the urban areas near the great rivers, Danube, Thisza,
Maros and Drava. Supplying towns not connected to the rivers also presented a
problem. For these and other reasons the land had to be drained inland. To
accomplish this, elaborate canal systems were built, a monumental task indeed.
Many sacrifices had to be made to accomplish this task and numerous lives were
lost during the construction of the waterways. The most notable accomplishments
of Prince Eugene of Savoy besides his military achievements, was his
organizational talent in the area of urban development. One of the largest
projects was draining of the “Vidovaje Ocean”, a
lake that spread between the rivers Tisza and Maros, whose size was estimated
perhaps almost as large as Lake Constance in Germany. General Claudius Florimund
von Mercy of the Palatinate, who became the first Governor of the Banat, aided
Prince Eugene’s effort. He was also referred to as the “Father
of the Banat”. Governor Mercy, in his own right a great administrative
genius brought economic and mining prosperity to the Banat. He settled 50 German
towns. Although the Turks destroyed these towns in 1737/1738, the Germans
returned to the Banat. He also settled Romanians, Serbs, Italian, French, as
well as Spaniards in the Banat. One English geographer wrote the following about
the region and its people; “One has to travel as far as the Nile Delta to find
fertile land and industrious people, like here in the Banat, who created a
flowering European cultural garden from this devastated and deserted part of
Europe”.
The
year 1779 brought a major draught throughout the Batschka, which resulted in a
shortage of food. To avoid possible starvation and famine, the provincial
government (Komidatsbehörde) decided to purchase food from other regions and
distribute it. The grain was distributed on the basis that it would be returned
the following year. This however was not possible for everybody. Certain
officials resorted to extremes by applying cruel methods to collect their taxes.
When the officials in the town of Kula overstepped their bounds, the citizens of
that community complained to the higher authorities. The following investigation
proved the questionable methods of the officials and all of them were fired.
Some of the cruelties our forefathers had to endure were that they had to
undress and then be thrown into nettles or thorns; others were locked in a
chimney or confined in a stone built bread-baking oven, while others had to
climb on the roof and sit there for hours. In the winter,
they had to stand for hours in the snow while cold water was poured over them
and they became live icicles. The source of this information (Palanka an der
Donau) also goes on, to give the names of the responsible officials.
Again
in 1788 war broke out between the Empire of German Nations and Turkey. As the
Imperial Army retreated to the north, it left the southern parts of the Banat
unprotected and caused the flight of 40,000 families to the north, mostly
Germans. The invading Turks burned down 147 towns among them Weißkirchen and
Pantschowa. In the city of Werschetz Johann Jakob Hennemann took on the defense
of the city with 70 German and 5 Serbian farmers. The clever leader deceived the
Turks by having these men continuously move about the city giving the impression
of a large troop contingency present. This scheme worked despite the fact that
the Turks had amassed more than 30,000 troops. Consequently, after the Imperial
Army had regrouped and defeated the Turks the town was renamed
“Hennenmannstadt” in the honor of its heroic defender and his men.
The
revolutionary freedom wars that swept through Europe in 1848-1849 brought
additional hardships for many of the towns. Serbian opportunist gangs raided the
town of Ernsthausen several times during that period. The damages were
devastating especially during the last raid. Thirty-six houses were burned to
the ground and the remaining houses burned out. The grain lofts were emptied and
the cattle, horses and poultry driven off, and winter was setting in.
Ernsthausen was not the only town that suffered from such raids. Gangs
periodically raided other towns as well, especially along the borders. From the
Heimatbuch of Schowe I learned, “one had to simply run for one’s life, when
such gangs attacked the towns, it was our only chance to stay alive during such
raids”.
After the equalization treaty between Austria and Hungary in 1867, the
Hungarians gained an inter-politically free hand. This political change brought
new problems for the Germans. Now the Hungarians began a systematic assimilation
politic. Every young Danube Swabian pursuing a higher education or a political
carrier became a target of this assimilation politic. In the process these men
and women volunteered to be hungarianized or magyarized
and take on a Hungarian name and became Hungarian patriots, since the success of
ones career would become dependant on that decision, like it or not.
The ever growing economical as well as cultural dominance of the Germans,
especially in the rural areas of Hungary, was cause of great concern for the
Hungarian administration. The administration made repeated efforts to magyarized
all of their citizens of German descent and expected them to relinquish their
traditions, ignoring their inherited rights reserved at the time of their
settlement by the Hungarian Landlords.
Although the Germans had retained the right to speak German during this
change, the Hungarians began to force the Germans to learn to speak Hungarian in
the schools along with the German language. They did not always stop there. In
some towns the Germans were forced to change their names while in other towns
the Hungarians proceeded to give them Hungarian names without their consent.
Even in the German churches the priests were often forced to speak Hungarian and
encourage the Germans to take Hungarian names and speak Hungarian at home.
Needless to say it became a continued struggle for our ancestors to maintain
their German heritage and culture. Since they had no representation in the
Hungarian parliament, they had to follow the Hungarian law, rules and
regulations, which placed them at certain designed disadvantages. There where
Germans living in the cities, who became hungarianized of their own free will,
however one must say without reservation, the farmers stood determined to uphold
their traditions handed to them by their forefathers.
Despite
of all these and other setbacks, our ancestors persevered. Their labor and their
sweat converted this region into the most fertile and richest region of Europe
by the end of the 19th Century. This monumental task was accomplished
basically by three generations of Danube Swabians. The region became known as
the granary of Europe, better known to us as the “Breadbasket of Europe”. Their lives were simple and without
many of the comforts we know today. They built homes, churches, schools and
towns for their children, grandchildren, and the generations to come. Very
little did our ancestors foresee the fate that would await their descendants, at
the end of World War II?
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The
Geographic Regions of the Danube
Swabians
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The
geographic regions, which were settled by
the Germans, stretched across vast areas of Hungary. It must be understood that
all the regions settled during the Great Swabian Migration were located in
Hungary at the time of the colonization. The main concentrations, however were
in the following provinces (Komitat):
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Southwest
Hungarian mountain regions, including Kis
(Little) Alföld and Bakony (Buchenwald, Schildgebirge, Ofener Bergland) between
the Raba (Raab) and the Danube (Donau) Rivers with Budapest as the center. It is
part of Hungary since 1920.
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Schwäbische
Türkei, stretching through the Pannonian
lowland of Dunantúl, south of Lake Balaton, between the Rivers Danube and Drava
(Drau) /Schomodei, Baranja (Branau), and Tolnau with Pecs (Fünkirchen) as the
center. It is part of Hungary since 1920.
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Slavonia-Syrmia
(Slavonia-Szerém or Slawonien-Syrmien), is the regions between the rivers
Danube, Save (Sau) and Drava (Drau) with Osijek (Esseg) as the center. It is
part of Yugoslavia since 1920. Today Slavonia is part of Croatia while Syrmia is
part of the Vojvodina, Serbia.
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Sathmar
is the regions to the east of the great Hungarian plains (Pusta), with Großkarol
as the center. It is part of Romania since 1920.
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Batschka
(Batschau or Batschgau), is the region to the north of the Danube (lower bend)
between the rivers Danube and Tisza (Theiß) with Novi-Sad (Neusatz) as the
center. It is part of Yugoslavia since 1920. Today it is part of the Vojvodina,
Serbia.
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Banat
is the regions to the north of the Danube (lower bend) between the Danube, Tisza,
Maros (Mieresch) and the Transylvanian Alps with Timisoara (Temeschburg or
Temeswar) as the center. The eastern part is of Romania while the western part
is part of Yugoslavia since 1920. Today the eastern part is still part of
Romania while the western part is part of the Vojvodina, Serbia.
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Settlement
Regions |
Settled by the
Government |
Privately
Settled
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Southwest
Hungarian Mountain
Regions |
15,000
|
20,000
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Schwäbische Türkei |
5,000
|
25,000
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Slavonia-Syrmia |
5,000 |
10,000
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Sathmar |
2,000 |
5,000
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Batschka |
30,000 |
5,000
|
Banat |
73,000 |
10,000 |
Totals |
130,000 |
75,000
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Source: Karl Beel, Tscherwenkaer Heimat-Zeitung Folge 37, Sommer 2001,
Jahrgang 15
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The
area our ancestors settled, according to researchers Senz, Schmidt and Tuffener,
stretched over a region of 65,000 square kilometers. This is an area almost as
large as Bavaria (70,238 square kilometers). At the end of World War II the
Danube Swabians owned an estimated area of 15,000 square kilometers, an amount
equal to 21.5% of the region were German settlements were located..
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The
Economic Background
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The
150,000 pioneers that settled during the
150 year long period in Hungary had now reached 1,500,000. Until 1850 the German
settlers were comprised of 85% to 90% farmers. By the beginning of the 20th
Century the German population in Hungary had shifted and was now comprised of
50% to 60% farmers and farm workers, 20% to 25% craftsman and merchants, 20%
laborers and 3% intellectuals and professionals. In the 1870’s they introduced
the revolutionary wheeled plow, which not only ripped the ground open but also
planed it the same time. They welcomed advancements in technology, which made
their work not only easier but also more efficient. After six years of research
by two German experts in 1907, who determined and stated, the wheat grown in the
Batschka produces the best flour in the world, especial for Weißbrot (wheat
bread) and strudel dough. Before WW I the German population in Hungary
represented 5.5% of the total population in Hungary, which produced 18.5% of the
wheat on 11.4% farmland in that country. They also produced pork, beef, wine,
silk, tobacco, corn, oats and the “Gidran” a breed of horses suitable for
work and pleasure riding.
In
1920 after WWI, after Hungary was drastically reduced in size, there were
approximately 551,000 Germans, we like to refer to them from here on as Danube
Swabians, living in Hungary, which represented 6.9% of the Hungarian population.
Of these 56.6% occupied themselves in farming, 27.9%
in the industry, 3.7% in commerce and 2.7% in the educational and professional
field. From the statistics we can clearly recognize the importance of the Danube
Swabian farmers. The skilled trade industry employed Danube Swabians (mostly
self-employed) and was comprised of 16,690 carpenters, 15,493
masons and bricklayers, 12,462 blacksmiths and 8,711 shoemakers. In 1942 Hungary
produced 185,000,000-liter milk of which Danube Swabian farmers were responsible
for 73,000,000 liter and 60% of the butter export from Hungary. In 1938, the
Danube Swabians produced 65% of all agricultural products produced in Hungary.
The production of linen and wool flourished in the Swabian Turkey. In the areas
around Bácsalmás, Pecs and Tokaj, the Danube Swabian winegrowers enjoyed world
famous reputations.
No
less than 226,597 souls made their home in the Romanian region of the Banat. Of
these persons 25.2% were of German descent. Seventy-nine percent of the Danube
Swabian population lived in rural areas and 20.7 % in the cities. They planted
52% of the farmland with grains (41.8% of the grain was wheat), 37.5% vegetable,
4.5% for feed and 6% other crops. In 1938 and 1939 the Danube Swabians owned 82%
of the pork belly industry and 29% of the Romanian pork belly export. By 1940
the contributions by the Danube Swabian to the Romanian export reached a high of
51%. The mining in the mountains of the Banat contributed also greatly to the
welfare of Romania.
The
Danube Swabian population in Yugoslavia prior to World War II consisted of more
than 500,000 people. In the Yugoslavian Banat it amounted to 23.6% of the
population. They owned 22% of the usable farmland producing 30% of the farm
products. They represented 42% of the skilled trade’s people out of 58% in the
Yugoslavian industry. The most profitable crop for the farmers in the Batschka
was the hemp and it should be to no ones surprise that they planted 25% of their
fields with the “White Gold of the Batschka”. In the Batschka, the Danube
Swabians contributed the largest share of hemp to the Yugoslavian export. They
owned and operated 73 hemp factories that produced 2,000 metric tons of hemp per
month. They owned 95% of the combing factories. Only Russia and Italy rivaled
the hemp they produced. However, in the qualities of tensile strength and water
resistance the hemp from the Batschka was superior. The Batschka was also home
of the “Hemp Trade Center of Europe” and was located in Odzaci (Hodschag)
and Novi Sad (Neusatz). They were also involved in the fishing, the tobacco and
the silk cocoon industry. The vegetable and fruit growing, as well as live stock
raising were profitable for the Danube Swabians, even though most of it was
produced for self-use.
The
town of Batschsentiwan best typifies the economic strength of the Danube
Swabians, since it was a leader in
hemp export. Batschsentiwan pursued a highly successful hemp growing industry
that accounted for 20% of the Yugoslavian hemp exports alone. In his book,
“Ein Volk Ausgelöscht,” Leopold Rohrbacher wrote: “Batschsentiwan is the
richest town in the Batschka and probably in all of Yugoslavia. This German
community, with a population of 6,300 souls, was known and famous throughout the
world as Yugoslavia’s hemp export center. Their workers and farmers have
created world famous export firms of hemp, the White Gold of the Batschka, in
only a few decades.”
During
my research I came across statistics applying to the Danube Swabians in
Yugoslavia after World War I, which stated; “although the Danube Swabian
population in Yugoslavia amounted only to 4% between the two World Wars, they
produced enough food to feed the Yugoslavian nation”. In addition, they
contributed 67% to the Yugoslavian food export. Who could ever imagine that the Danube
Swabians would be starved to death, by the nation they once fed.
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